Cadel Evans wins Tour Down Under third stage to claim ochre jersey

Former Tour de France winner Cadel Evans seized control of the Tour Down Under with a dominant win in the third stage from Norwood to Campbelltown in South Australia on Thursday.

General Classification

Cadel Evans (AUS/BMC) 10:46:40

Simon Gerrans (Aus/GreenEDGE) +12"

Diego Ulissi (ITA/Lampre) +15"

Nathan Haas (AUS/Garmin) +27"

Robert Gesink (NED/Belkin) +29"

Evans, 37, also took the overall lead in the season-opening UCI World Tour race when he powered away from the pack on the notorious Corkscrew Road Hill, then held on over the last five kilometres (three miles) to win by 15 seconds.

Second place went to Australia's Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) with Italian Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida) in third.

Australian Simon Gerrans, who took the ochre leader's jersey into Thursday's stage, came in fifth and now trails Evans on general classification by 12 seconds. Ulissi is a further three seconds behind in third place overall.

"It wasn't quite optimal but it was pretty good," Evans said of his ride.

"With the time bonuses available the race is still a long way from over, but today went almost perfectly."